Microbiology of chronic ethmoid sinusitis: is this a bacterial disease?

PURPOSE: Review the microbiology of chronic rhinosinusitis and test the hypothesis that bacterial infections are not the predominant etiology for chronic rhinosinusitis.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Tissue cultures were prospectively collected from the ethmoid mucosa of 179 patients (94 had chronic rhinosinusitis and 85 had chronic rhinosinusitis with polyposis) at the time of endoscopic sinus surgery. All patients were off antibiotics for at least 1 week at the time of surgery. Both aerobic and anaerobic cultures were obtained for each specimen.

RESULTS

A total of 263 isolates were identified (average: 1.5 isolates per specimen). Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, a likely contaminant, was the most common isolate and was identified in 51% of patients. Forty percent of patients (72/179) grew pathogenic aerobic bacteria, the most common was Staphylococcus aureus (18%). Six percent of patients (10/179) grew pathogenic anaerobic bacteria. The microbiology of patients with and without nasal polyposis was not significantly different.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that factors other than bacterial infection may play an integral role in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis.